Roseberys- Yayoi Kusama Pumpkins Lead Print Auction

Roseberys- Yayoi Kusama Pumpkins Lead Print Auction

Roseberys London: The first Modern & Contemporary Prints & Multiples auction of the year at Roseberys will take place on Tuesday 9 March, starting at 11am. This sale has a strong focus in particular on collectible works that are on trend, including works by the Connor Brothers, David Shrigley, Banksy and Takashi Murakami. This sale is ideal for young collectors starting out, as it boasts a large number of high impact and recognisable works from artists such as Andy Warhol, Yayoi Kusama, Terry Frost and David Hockney.

Elizabeth Wormald, Junior Specialist who assisted in curating of the auction comments ‘Running themes throughout the sale includes a large selection of prints by pioneering female artist Dame Laura Knight, which are rare to find on the market. They are all beautiful examples of her etching skills, with the majority of the works portraying women from a women’s eye. Elsewhere within the sale, another reoccurring work from the same artist are a wide selection of prints (lots 192-202) by the prolific English Pop Artist Peter Blake. Lots 262 – 268 is a group focused around YBA women such as Tracey Emin. And as always, we have a solid selection of works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami on offer.’ Yayoi

Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin up for bid at Roseberys auction
Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin up for bid at Roseberys auction

Leading the sale are two high covetable pumpkin prints by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. A Pumpkin BB-C [Kusama 329’] in blue and A Pumpkin GB-D [Kusama 332] ‘in green. Both screenprint in colour on arches wove were produced in 2004 and come with a provenance purchased from the publisher, Okabe Hanga Shuppan, Kanagawa, Japan. They both come with an estimate of £12,000- £18,000. Yayoi Kusama has consolidated a name for herself for her genius and innovative work. To date she is one of the most highly sought-after artists of her generation. Her aesthetic is perhaps best typified by her pumpkin art such as the lots on offer at Roseberys. 

Estimated to make £15,000- £20,000 is this work by elusive British artist Banksy. Titled Police Riot Van (Dismaland Gift Print), the digital print in colours with hand finish on wove, created in 2015 was a one of 52 prints given to employees from Banksy at Dismaland, the temporary art project organised by the street artist in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare. The print is accompanied by a Dismaland hi-vis jacket and tin can lid Mickey Mouse ears, worn by the employee during their time working at the park. It also comes accompanied by a bank statement and payslip issued by BM Dismaland Ltd. Elizabeth Wormald, Junior Specialist comments, ‘Banksy gifted works rarely come up to auction, so it’s great to see this Dismaland print on offer.’ 

Offered at £2,500- £3,500 is lot 20, the complete suite of five lithographs in colours by British artist Henry Moore OM CH FBA RBS, 1898-1986. Titled Helmet Head Lithographs [Cramer 356-360], the complete folio was published by Gerald Cramer, Geneva, in 1974-75. Moore is one of the most significant British artists of the twentieth century best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore also produced many drawings, along with other graphic works on paper such as the lots on offer. 

Unique work by The Connor Brothers, titled The Preceding Accumulation of Emotional Distress created in 2020 for their lockdown series; is offered at £2,500- £3,500 within the auction. The unique mixed media collage, digital print, crayon and hand-finished acrylic on wove comes with a provenance from the Artistan Gallery, 2020. The Connor Brothers are best known for their paintings and prints featuring vintage pin-up beauties and Old Hollywood starlets such as the lot on offer. The Connor Brothers—a pseudonym for the British artists Mike Snelle and James Golding—initially retained anonymity under their fictional guise. They posed as fictional twin brothers Franklyn and Brendan Connor, who had escaped from a California cult (called “The Family”) by running away to Brooklyn at age 16 to become artists. Today, Snelling and Golding have shed their guise, and align their work with social causes such as the European refugee crisis. 

Offering to the market at £2,000- £3,000 is work by British artist Tracey Emin CBE RA. Titled Hades Hades Hades, the screenprint on cotton, stitched onto floral fabric published by Counter Editions, London in 2009 shows her love of using texture and fabric in her works. Tracey Emin is a notable and prolific artist recognized for her place in the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s, and in particular for her provocative and controversial works. As illustrated in this artwork, Tracey Emin explores very personal and turbulent childhood experiences alongside sexual history, which is often described as confessional. The repeated text Hades on this left-hand screen print evokes the underworld in Greek mythology, a word which later became synonymous in Christianity with hell. For Emin Hades has a further, more personal meaning as it was the name of a night club in Margate, and a place where she experienced some of her best and darkest teenage memories. The right-hand side of the print shows a sketchily drawn figure on her knees who appears to be holding a hammer in one hand. 

Lot 14 is a great example of a linocut on offer within the auction by Cyril Edward Power, (1872-1951). Cyril Edward Power was an English artist best known for his mastery of linocut prints, long-standing artistic partnership with artist Sybil Andrews and for co-founding the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London in 1925. He was also a successful architect and teacher. Today Power’s work is held in collections worldwide, including the British Museum, National Gallery of Australia, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. A similar version to the work on offer at Roseberys can be found within the V&A collection. This exquisite example of Power’s linoprint work at Roseberys comes with an estimate of £2,000- £3,000. 

The complete portfolio of 50 screenprints and photolithographs in colours on wove by Scottish artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA, (1924–2005) titled General Dynamic F.U.N., 1967-70, published by Alecto Studios has been entered into the sale at £1,500- £2,000. Paolozzi was one of the pioneers of the pop art movement in the UK and was admired for his mechanistic sculptures and his kaleidoscopic print projects. Within these series of screenprints Paolozzi explored familiar household names of advertising, high fashion and Hollywood. Between Tuesday 12 November 2019 – Saturday 4 January 2020, the work was on view at the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre in London. The artist’s friend and occasional collaborator, J.G. Ballard, described the General Dynamic F.U.N as a ‘unique guidebook to the electric garden of our minds.’ 

Coming with an estimate of £1,500- £2,000 is an etching with aquatint in colours on Magnani wove titled Stromboli’ by British artist, Victor Pasmore CH CBE (1908-1998). Stromboli was one of a series of etchings made at the 2RC studio in Rome, for which Pasmore used a very direct method of working on the plate to produce large and fluid areas of colour aquatint. Aquatint is a printmaking technique that produces tonal effects by using acid to eat into the printing plate creating sunken areas which hold the ink. To produce this work, he poured a solvent onto the varnished copper plate, while controlling the run and spread of the liquid. The area thus bared for aquatinting and etching was then modified and augmented to complete the image. Pasmore is famous for pioneering the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. The work on offer at Roseberys is a wonderful example of his work. 

The complete suite of seven screen-prints in white on black wove, together with accompanying book is being offered at £1,000- £1,500 within the auction by Italian contemporary artist Maurizio Nannucci. Living and working in Lives and works in Florence and South Baden, Germany, Nannucci’s work portfolio includes photography, video, neon installations, sound installation, artist’s books, and editions. A large focus within his work has been exploring the relationships between art, language and image since the 1960s with the creation of “Dactilograms” – a more diverse dimension of meaning and a new perception of space. The work on offer at Roseberys is a prime example of Nanucci’s use of language as an artform. 

The final highlight within the auction comes from the legendary king of Pop Art, Andy Warhol. Included within the sale are three prints by the renowned American artist, with lot 208 print from ‘The American Indian series (Red)’ being the highlight of the group. By the mid-1970s, Andy Warhol was veering away from his earlier focus on mainstream celebrities and toward more eclectic subjects. The image featured on this poster is a painting created by Warhol of Native American civil rights activist Russell Means, who he produced a series on in 1976. Within the artwork Warhol presents Means with exaggerated, glamorized features; that are similar to the series from the mechanical approach of Warhol’s earlier celebrity portraits. Through a combination of mass technology and ornamental technique, Warhol transforms a commonplace image, such as the lot on offer, into a dignified and majestic portrait that pays tribute to both an individual and his people. The offset lithographic poster in colours on thin wove comes with an estimate of £1,000 – £1,500. 

Modern & Contemporary Prints & Multiples: Live online only auction Tuesday 9 March, 11am 

View the fully illustrated catalogue here 

There is no in person viewing for this auction. We offer video viewing and extra images. Please contact [email protected] for condition reports and further information. 

 

For more information about Roseberys, CLICK HERE

 

Roseberys- Private Collection of Silver & Judaica

Roseberys- Private Collection of Silver & Judaica

 Roseberys London are proud to a bring a Private Collection of Silver & Judaica to the market on Wednesday 17 March, starting at 11am. The size and quality of this collection of scrolls and Judaica make this auction a very special event. The varied and impressive collection features an illuminated Book of Ecclesiastes scroll, several highly collectable Esther scroll cases by the Bezalel School, and numerous examples from across Europe, Israel and the former Ottoman Empire. There are also some lovely examples of contemporary Judaica silver including several pieces by Mila Tanya Griebel, whose work has been exhibited widely in Britain and the US, with a number of museums buying work for their permanent collections, a number of pieces by Hazorfim, and a large silver rose bowl by Graham K Arthur. 

Peter Greenway, Director at Roseberys comments ‘We are thrilled to be selling this collection. It is one of the largest single owner collections of Judaica sold in the UK in the last few decades. It is unusual to see such a wide spectrum of Judaica in a single owner sale. The sale is split into categories including silver, scrolls, works of art, jewellery and watches, all ranging in prices. Another highlight within the sale is a collection of rare modern silver, made in the late 20th century. There is a growing market for all Judaica, so we are excited to see the results of this auction.’

Lot 2: William Tillyer, British b.1938- Untitled, 1980

The highlight of the sale is lot 311, a miniature illuminated Megillat Kohelet [Book of Ecclesiastes Scroll], early 20th century. Estimated to make £2,000- £5,000, this scroll is written in a handsome Hebrew scribal hand in tiny lettering bordered by colourfully painted polychrome birds, fruit, lions within roundels and architecture on a yellow ground. Book of Ecclesiastes scrolls are far rarer than Esther scrolls, and the beautiful illumination on this example makes it even more special. It is in good condition commensurate with age. 

Estimated to sell for £1,000 – £2,000 is a HaMelech Esther scroll, megillah, in a silver case and original olive wood box, by the Bezalel School, Jerusalem, c.1925. Both the case and box are signed in Hebrew ‘Bezalel Jerusalem’. The scroll case is beautifully chased with panels depicting scenes from the Book of Esther including Mordecai beseeching Queen Esther on behalf of their people, Esther beseeching her husband, King Ahasuerus, and Mordecai being led in triumph on a horse by Haman. This type of scroll is known as a ha-melech scroll because most of the columns, written in Hebrew, begin with the word ha-melech (the king). Pieces by the Bezalel School of Art and Design have become highly collectible. Established in 1906 by artist Boris Schatz as the “Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts”. Bezalel has evolved into one of the world’s most prestigious art schools. 

A fine example of a scroll case included within the auction is lot 312. The small jewelled Israeli HaMelech Esther scroll case, unmarked, assumed gold, c.1960 is attributed to Licica Smilovici. The case of hexagonal form with panelled sides is decorated with vertical bands of geometric scrollwork set with rubies and emeralds, the crown finial centred by a rampant lion. The scroll case has been entered into the market with an estimate of £4,000- £8,000. A very similar scroll sold within Sothebys auction titled ‘ A Treasured Legacy : The Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection’ in 2013 made over £9,000. 

Lot 334 on offer is a silver travelling Hanukkah lamp in the form of a book, possibly Polish, made in the mid-19th century. The lamp that comes with an estimate of £800- £1,200 is engraved on the cover in large Hebrew characters ‘Shaddai’ (The Almighty), and the base is engraved with the Star of David, beside a maker’s mark LC/T in a shield-shaped punch. The interior has eight square compartments, the front four hinged and opening to form a straight line of eight, which conceals along the front a Hebrew inscription including the word Hanukkah. On the first night of Hanukkah, the first light is lit using the shamash. On each subsequent night, an additional light is ignited until on the final night, all the lights burn. This lamp would be great for anybody travelling or needing a compact, foldable lamp for the home. 

Coming with an attractive estimate of £200- £300 is a highly collectable early 20th century (1931) 9ct gold jump hour digital wristwatch. The wristwatch comes with Glasgow hallmarks, 1931, and later leather straps. This style of watch coined the term ‘digital watch’. Although the movement is mechanical, the hours, minutes and seconds are read through small apertures in the case. The time is displayed using ‘digits’ – hence the name digital. These early mechanical digital watches are the predecessors of modern digital watches. While electronic digital wristwatches first appeared in the 70s, the very first digital wristwatches actually came onto the scene in the 1920s. 

Lot 320, estimated at £2,000-4,000 is a silver filigree spice tower of architectural form, by the Bezalel school, Jerusalem, c.1920. This highly collectable piece has five domed turrets and a flag engraved ‘Jerusalem’ in Hebrew to hinged cover, the square foot applied on one side with Hebrew words reading ‘Bezalel Jerusalem’. It is also stamped with an Austrian import mark for 1901-21, and mounted on a hardstone base. Many Jewish families will use a Spice Tower (besamim) at the end of Shabbat. Strong, sweet spices such as cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg are placed inside it. The sweetness of the spices symbolizes the Jews’ collective hope that sweetness will prevail beyond the actual holiday–during the coming weeks, months and years. Although the tradition of using besamim boxes dates back to the mid-1500s, few early examples have survived. The oldest ones still in existence are from the mid-1800s, according to Jay Weinstein, author of “A Collectors’ Guide to Judaica” (Thames and Hudson, out of print). Spice boxes are rarer than other ceremonial objects. As a result, the best older examples are more sought after, and their value is expected to remain strong and increase. 

Offered with an estimate of £400- £600 is a pair of late 19th century Polish silver Tefillin cases (phylacteries) Warsaw, maker’s mark Pogorzelski. These cases also have a later Russian duty mark for 1908-17, both engraved with foliate decoration and Hebrew inscriptions reading ‘for hand’ and ‘for head’ respectively to the front. They are beautifully engraved with foliate decoration and Hebrew inscriptions reading ‘for hand’ and ‘for head’ respectively to the front. They are exceptional examples of Tefillin’s, the silver boxes worn by Orthodox Jewish men on their head and arm during weekday morning prayer. The Tefillins’ also come complete with pale blue velvet linings. 

Lot 181 is a rare relic of the roaring twenties – the golden era of tobacco. The pagoda-shaped silver cigarette holder by Asprey comes with an estimate of £400- £600. This is not your average cigarette box. Chinoiserie enjoyed a revival in the 1920s-1930s and Asprey, always at the forefront of stylish, innovative design responded with creations of this sort. The lovely, unusual piece has an opening with a twist of the finial to reveal three wooden triangular compartments for cigarettes. 

Lot 316 is a fine example of a miniature Sefer Torah mounted on ivory capped wooden rollers, probably 18th century, from Germany or Poland, estimated to make £5,000- £10,000. The text is arranged according to the vavei ha‘amudim format, 42 lines to a column, the black velvet mantle embroidered in gold thread with a Star of David and thread border. The Torah (or Pentateuch) is commonly acknowledged to be the oldest section of the Hebrew Old Testament, containing the five books of Moses. The process of writing a Torah is an extremely long one – it can take up to a year. Every Torah is written entirely by hand, with each of the 304,805 letters inscribed with a quill and specially prepared ink. 

At £1,000- £2,000 is this large Austro-Hungarian menorah, mid-19th century, stamped only with 13 standard mark. The menorah is stunningly designed with finial of a lion rampant supporting a vacant shield, the central column with applied lion masks from which issue the rounded wire branches, each with chains dependant. The Lion of Judah is traditionally regarded as the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah. The cylindrical base of stem is applied with cut-out deer in forest setting and the large oval base is finished off with applied with grotesque mask feet. This is a lovely, impressive example of a menorah – the traditional Jewish symbol of light. 

Estimated to make £400- £600 is a 19th century Russian provincial silver Torah pointer, yad, from Vilnius, c.1860. The maker A. Magat, assay master Alexander Myanovsky, decorated the midsection with an applied lion mask and the squared handle is set with a small tear-shaped coral cabochon to spherical finial engraved with two Hebrew letters beneath a single hoop. Now in Lithuania, in 1860 Vilnius where the Torah pointer was made was part of the Russian Empire. During the second half of the 19th century, the Jewish community in Vilnius thrived and the city became known as the capital of Torah studies, or “the Jerusalem of Lithuania” among world Jewish communities. 

An interesting silver menorah formerly presented to Margaret Thatcher, stamped ‘925 sterling’ comes with an estimate of £2,000 – 3,000 (lot 416 ). The menorah complete with eight branches, comes with an auxiliary miniature oil jug and is decorated in floral patterns. An engraving to base reading ‘Presented to the Prime Minister The Rt. Hon Margaret Thatcher FRS MP, With very best wishes from the Lubavitch Foundation UK, July 1989’. The provenance of the menorah was that it is was presented to Margaret Thatcher by the Lubavitch Foundation in July 1989. A photo of Thatcher and the menorah-flanked by Rabbi Aron Dov Sufrin and several others-hung on the wall of Rabbi Aron Dov Sufrin (Director of Education of Lubavitch schools in London) until his death in 1997. Passed on to his son, the photo is now said to hang in the Chabad House office. 

A Private Collection of Silver & Judaica: Live online only auction Wednesday 17 March, 11am 

View the fully illustrated catalogue here 

Please note that Roseberys cannot guarantee that any of the scrolls offered in this auction are kosher. 

Lots 1-413 are part of a private collection being sold on behalf of a charity. 

There is no in person viewing for this auction. 

We offer video viewing and extra images. Please contact [email protected] for condition reports and further information. 

 

For more information about Roseberys, CLICK HERE